Brazilian driver Massa was expected to have a meeting with Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo in Maranello tomorrow, but he appears to have pre-empted the news that would have come from that appointment.

“From 2014 I will no longer be driving for Ferrari,” Massa said in a post on Instagram and Twitter. “I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible moments experienced together. Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my sponsors. From each one of you I have always received a great support!

“Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining seven races. For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the championship which remains my greatest objective! Thank you all.”

If Ferrari confirms that Räikkönen will team next season with incumbent Prancing Horse star Fernando Alonso, it will be fascinating to see how Ferrari manages the dynamic between the two, given that the arrival of Alonso and sponsor Santander led to Räikkönen being squeezed out of the team at the end of 2009, two years after he delivered its first championship since the Michael Schumacher era.

However, Ferrari apparently has weighed the pros and cons of re-employing the Finn. The team should benefit from having two experienced frontrunners, especially during what will be a complicated season for everyone in 2014 thanks to new turbocharged engines.

Nico Hulkenberg had long been Ferrari's preferred choice -- no surprise given that he has effectively been in a holding pattern at Sauber this year. A contract was apparently ready to be signed, but after the Hungarian Grand Prix the team switched its focus to Räikkönen.

Ferrari last summer was already in contact with Räikkönen about replacing Massa for 2013, and given that Lotus was behind with the driver's payments, he could have walked away from his contract for this season.

At the time he preferred to stay in an environment where he felt comfortable, and not surprisingly he was also reluctant to return to a team where his previous tenure had ended so unhappily.

However, the ongoing financial squeeze at the Enstone-based Lotus team has caused him to think again, and it seems likely that the departure to Maranello of one of Lotus' biggest assets, James Allison -- now Ferrari's chassis technical director -- has also played a part in Raikkonen's decision.

Autoweek believes that Ferrari has offered Räikkönen a one-year deal, with an option for a second. One of the questions is how even Ferrari could afford to employ two former world champions, but Massa is not exactly cheap, and is believed to receive a salary of $8 million. In addition, as soon as Red Bull lost interest in Räikkönen, his bargaining position became weaker.

On the plus side, Räikkönen brings with him a huge fan base and obvious benefits for Ferrari's current and future sponsors. Even Ferrari has to work to get media coverage these days, and TV numbers are everything to sponsors.

However, his well-known reluctance to participate in public-relations events -- a trait he shares with Alonso -- may mean that Ferrari's test and reserve drivers will be even busier with sponsor duties next season.

Massa meanwhile could replace Räikkönen at Lotus, possibly with a little encouragement from team sponsor Richard Mille, a company closely linked to his manager Nicolas Todt. Hulkenberg is also in the frame at Lotus.